Washington Elitists Ignore JOBLESS USA - What part of The FIERCE URGENCY of NOW don't they GET?

March 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Once again Washington law makers went on vacation from Capitol Hill and returned to their own districts, back to their mansions, fabulous meals, fancy cars and opulent lifestyles without doing anything to assist millions of long term unemployed Americans who are facing financial disaster and worse.

When you consider the average senate salary (before perks) is $170K per year and the average long term jobless benefits are $239.00 per week, it is very clear how out of touch these Washington representatives are with the struggles of the Main Street Americans who put them in office. As a direct result of their indifference toward the unemployed (and NOT the Health Care Reform issue), Washington incumbents realistically face their own unemployment come this November.

The long term unemployed are angry about some Capitol Hill cronies who have openly expressed their opinion that jobless benefits make Americans lazy and unmotivated to seriously look for work.  They cannot seem to comprehend the fact that even the most diligent job search efforts cannot land jobs that simply do not exist. The main stream media also has been sorely lagging in their coverage on this important subject, thus millions of unemployed Americans are uniting to send Washington a message when they reconvene in mid-April. Just to name a few of the efforts aimed at getting both Washington's and Media attention are:
Marches are being organized in every state with the help of Craig's list.

UCubed -The Union for the Unemployed http://www.unionofunemployed.com/members

Change.org - A petition site where you can quickly send letters of support for the cause to your Washington Reps. View the petition : The 99ers need a Tier V added to Unemployment Benefits at  http://www.change.org/petitions

A YouTube video push to go viral: Exposing the lie about HR 4213 -Tier 5 to Survive:The MOVIE   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEDDTxRrtK4



Phone-in/FAX/Email/Twitter campaigns supported by:
Unemployed-friends.com  http://unemployed-friends.forumotion.com
Washingtonwatch.com  http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_PL_111-92.html?page=1473#usercomments
Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Needed!!!  http://tier5.webs.com

It is shameful that 6.5 million long term unemployed in this country who have exhausted all tiers of emergency benefits cannot get the help they need from the Washington elite who have so much, due in part to the Americans who pay them handsomely.  It is pretty clear that we are not getting our moneys worth from Washington.

There were 3 million made homeless by the terrible tragedy in Haiti and Congress acted within 2 days. BRAVO!  Washington took about 10 days to approve the first 800 billion dollar bank bailout in the Fall of 2008. Record speed for Capitol Hill to be sure. Yet last September it took 2 months before Washington could pass a bill extending benefits for nearly 7 million long term unemployed Americans whose unemployment had run out months before. It took another 6 weeks or longer for the jobless benefits to actually reach those who desperately needed them. It is obvious that we are not a priority in the eyes of those we pay to protect us from such disasters.

Washington has failed us for years by poorly structured trade agreements, tax breaks that reward those who send our jobs overseas, permitting the health insurance companies to abuse Americans for years, allowing "Big Pharma" to assure Americans pay more for medicine than any other country which distributes their products and rewarding Wall Street for putting our economy in the toilet with bailouts while still failing to regulate them.Now they have the audacity to claim we cannot afford to help the innocent victims of their continued failure?  America is fed up with both parties. We are tired of feeling forgotten and invisible.  Now the determined unemployed in America intend to be heard one way or another.

CNN recently reported that the banks (who helped get us into this mess to begin with) have been given $5 trillion dollars ( yes TRILLION) since the Fall of 2008. According to the National Priorities Project (http://costofwar.com) America has spent $1.05 trillion dollars since 2001 on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. These disturbing and staggering amounts beg the question: Why is it OK to borrow money/increase the deficit to go kill people overseas or bail out inept greedy banks but NOT acceptable to spend a tiny fraction of this amount to save millions who are hurting through no fault of their own across America? By extending the important lifeline of jobless benefits, we do more to stimulate our economy and do so far more immediately than with any other method instituted thus far in this economic crisis. Money well spent, so it may come as no surprise why Washington cannot grasp the concept.

Another interesting question is: Where are all the celebrities publicly speaking their outrage over this "Social Holocaust" of long term joblessness in the USA? They have been too busy I suppose garnering support for repealing the "don't ask/don't tell", passing Health Care Reform, Haiti relief and the like - which are ALL important issues I agree. The problem is that joblessness in this country effects all religions, ethnic backgrounds, tax brackets, political affiliations, sexual preferences and age groups throughout every state in America.

Do we really want a country with only the "Haves" and the "Have Not" classes?  Unless we do something fast to shine the light on this crisis the American Dream will be nothing but a distant memory of generations past.

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Advocacy for the rights of millions of jobless Americans who WANT JOBS, but NEED benefits until jobs are available in this country. STOP tax credits for those who ship jobs overseas, STOP allowing employers to hire based on a credit report! November 2010 will really HURT for ALL incumbents in Washington!